Anti Hunters on state land
Connecticut
Be careful everyone, ran into 2 anti-hunters on CT state land recently. It helps to know the laws. About a week ago We were walking out after the hunt, ran into a woman on the trail. She freaked and threatened to call the cops, and insisted we can’t just walk around on state land wearing camo with guns (unloaded or not). We kept calm and tried to explain the situation and regs, but she was in no mood. She insisted that her yellow lab resembled a deer, and that he might get shot. We kept telling her it’s not deer season, and hunting takes place a mile from the trail. She was beyond panicked. Mostly I hide if I hear someone coming up a trail when I’m coming out of the woods on state land. It also helps to have the Encon officer who patrols that area in your cell contacts. We were as calm and polite as could be and did everything we could to assure her she or her dog were in no danger. Anyone have advice on what else we could have done?
You did the right thing by just being the kind of person that you can run into unexpectedly and not be unreasonably traumatized by being surprised by some stranger with a gun.
If you can’t stay invisible and you aren’t getting anywhere with ‘em, just move on. They can’t make you stay there.
I guess you could always invite her to call 911 if it will make her feel better to have a dispatcher tell her to leave you alone.
deranged = completely unable to think clearly or behave in a controlled way, especially because of mental illness:
Synonym - crazed
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words - Of unsound mind
The number of people with this condition seems to be increasing with the spread of progressive politics, although not exclusive to that school of thought.
Remember it is against the law in CT to Harass a Hunter. Next time tell her that and say if she does not leave you alone you will call the cops on her.
I always try to be polite and respectful, but firm if they start harassing. Have only had one issue, and I shut them down and kept walking. Other interactions have been fine.
I ran into a woman on horseback WAYYY back on state land one year. She was polite, but asked us (all geared out in camo, and carrying shotguns) if we were hunting.
We politely said "yes"... she said she didn't realize it was hunting season, and asked what season it was. Since you could tell she had a sense of humor, I looked at her big white horse and said "unicorn season, but they have to have a visible horn."
She was cool, we had a short conversation, and parted ways. One other time (prior to Sandy Hook), we came across a school group out in the woods on a science trip. They guy I was hunting with, had the same teacher that was running the class. We got to tell the kids some things about turkeys, and conservation.
My only advice - keep your cool, don't escalate anything. You are in the right, and their fear is no reason to be harassed. Don't take any s&&t either.
Years ago I was walking back from a turkey hunt on state land in N.Caanan and I see movement in the tall grass. There were 2 college kids on their hands and knees doing an acid rain study at the edge of field. They were quite startled when they saw me approach and I explained how dangerous it was for them to be crawling around during turkey season with no orange on and barely visible above the grass. They made a phone call and packed things up, but thanked me before I left. A very positive experience for everyone. Other than that, nothing bad ever happened where I hunt.
Pat, That answers their question of whether a hunter shits in the woods, educational! LOL! Then again, city folk may have thought you were laying eggs. LOL!
Wild Bill to funny. Folks who do not have country / outside experience can be funny. A buddy of mine is a mason. He was working on walls at a rural home owned by two Physicians. He asked about hunting out back given a lot of deer sign was present. They said yes, and that they had seen where they lived in the caves along the ledge out back. Huh? He was curious so he looked. They thought the porcupine dens along a ledgy area were deer caves :)!
There indeed are, multiple intelligence's :) ha ha ha!
This was done by an anti hunter for sure.
Ne - you mean, an "eats a hunter"... ha ha ha!
Pat, You don't know crap, it's dark because the meal was bloody.
To avoid a problem I once moved a tree stand on private land at the request of a DEP Officer... He stated he received a complaint about the location of my tree stand... He stated the tree stand location is 100% legal but asked me to move it to make the complainant happy... I moved it immediately
Wait, Brooklyn, you were on private land, and some other person complained about you being on someone elses land? ooph!
Kid, If that had happened to me and I wasn't doing anything wrong I would have been tempted to call DEEP and have that officer arrested for hunter harassment.
Local PD Kid?
Couple years ago after a small new bit of land trust (legal to hunt here) opened and connected to a town forest (legal)... It was a sly spot. Between two houses, tough but legal parking, etc. I go and scout it one day, decent. Figure Ill give it a shot. Next time, I see the wife hustle to the husband as I'm gearing up, and before his slumped "I dont want to do this" shoulders came over I knew... "Hey, um, so the other day the PD had a guy towed for being here. No hunting in the town forest while they are logging (which was literally a mile down the road mind you). I just wanted to warn you so it wouldnt happen to you" I could tell this was a "my wife called the PD on a guy" situation and not the PD randomly taking issue with a bowhunter. I have a number of good spots near there, so I just opted to move on. If i did not have more spots, I'd have called the EPO's and verified/had them come visit to ensure it was allowed. Just not worth it for that spot to me.
Point of all that...
If that access point was all you had, call DEEP for sure. Doing a legal thing, on legal land, should be easy for the PD when they get the phone call: "Thanks for notifying us Miss, that area is legal to hunt, so we will keep an eye on it, but the person is legally there. have a nice day."
Kid - next time pull out your phone and video the conversation. It's legal to record public officials, including the police, while they're doing their job. You're allowed to video from any land that is deemed to be public and anything that is in plain view. The officer might think twice about giving you that kind of advice if he knows you have it recorded.
